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Technology versus Jobs: the Debate is not Over

Some experts announced that the ongoing "Third Industrial Revolution" -Internet, Robotics, Green Energy etc...- will create millions of jobs. This is not an unlikely outcome. But what seems even more likely is that this industrial revolution will also lead to massive job cuts, affecting primarily non skilled jobs and blue collar workers. Taking the example of the automobile industry -approx. 454,000 employees in Germany and 133,000 in France- we know that many more workers could be substituted by robots. But, in a context of high unemployment, in particular in the South of Europe, these type of innovative projects are to be frozen. However, many industrial and services sectors could shortly decide, through developments in artificial intelligence, to significantly increase the number of their robot installations. According to the International Federation of Robotics, robot installations increased by about 15% to 205,000 units in 2014 (46,000 in Europe, of which 19,500 in Germany), and from 2015 to 2017 such installations should increase by 12% on average per year. Obviously advances in artificial intelligence and robotics already enable a huge range of tasks to be automated. It is therefore hard to believe that increasing the number of engineers or technicians in order to build or maintain robots or drones will be enough to offset job losses among factory workers, supermarket cashiers or delivery drivers. Yet, some experts still claim that the idea that technology destroys jobs is garbage. One thing is certain: this debate is not yet closed. But in fact, one belief should be unanimously supported: all those people who are at risk of losing their jobs won't all become unemployed; but only if they are in a position to reskill. As a consequence, they will have to update knowledge and acquire new skills throughout their working lives.

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